“Happily ever after, huh?” For whatever reason, the idea of Stephen living happily ever after with Tia left me more than a little bothered, though I couldn’t figure out the reason. Why should it matter whom he fell in love with? It was none of my business.
Still . . . Tia? She was the least likely person to fall for a guy like Stephen. She was all business, and he was all . . . I paused, deep in thought.
Paul looked my way. “I take it this idea doesn’t suit you?”
“Oh.” I shook off my ponderings. “Just wondering how that would work. Talk about opposites. He’s the funny guy. She’s serious.”
“My ex and I were too much alike,” he said. “I guess that was part of the problem. Might’ve been better if we’d been opposites.”
I had to wonder which ex he was referring to. But no time for that right now, not with a group of small children watching my every move.
I turned back to Candy, who seemed to be the leader of this little band. “Why are you telling us this?”
“We want your help. We want you and Mr. Paul to write some funny lines that will make Miss Tia and Mr. Stephen fall in love.”
“I see. Well, we’ve got a busy weekend ahead of us, but if I come up with anything, I’ll let you know.” In the meantime, do something childlike. Stop playing matchmaker!
“Thank you, Miss Athena!” A smile lit Candy’s face. She jumped off the sofa and led the procession of kiddos out the door and down the hall.
Paul followed on their heels, waving at me. “This should be fun. Maybe we’ll come up with something.”
“Yeah. Fun.” I forced a wave, then walked back into the office and leaned against the wall. A few seconds later, Kat entered. She took one look at me and rushed my way.
“You okay? Feeling sick or something?”
“Or something.” I paused. “Did you know the kids are trying to pair up Tia and Stephen? We just heard all about it.”
Kat laughed. “No they’re not.”
“Yes they are. They just came into the office and laid out an elaborate plan.”
“Athena, sit for a minute. We need to talk.”
I plopped down on the sofa, still ranting about my visit with the kids. “I can’t believe they would think Tia and Stephen would make a good couple. Then again, what do they know about romance? They’re just kids.”
“They know more than you think. Those kids are the reason Scott and I fell in love. It was their antics that pushed us together.” She grinned. “Okay, it was really your doing. You writers scripted most of it. And all for the purpose of driving Jack and Angie together. But the real couple fell in love too, partly because of the trouble the kids went to. They saw something in Scott and me that we couldn’t even see ourselves.” She paused and then smiled. “Athena, you’re a smart girl.”
“Thank you. Mama says that all smart people are Greek.”
Kat rolled her eyes. “You’re a smart girl, but you’ve overlooked something rather obvious.”
“What’s that?”
“The kids have set you up.”
“They what?” No way.
“They set you up. You don’t find it a little coincidental that they come to your office now to talk about Stephen and some other woman? They were just in the dressing room earlier, telling Tia and me that they were going to play tricks on you and Stephen.”
“But Candy said . . .” I paused to think about what she’d said. “Oh, that little monster.”
“Exactly.”
“So, you’re telling me that they’re not really trying to push Stephen and Tia together? They’re trying to light some sort of flame between Stephen and me?”
“Exactly. And they’re banking on the fact that you’re not going to figure it out, so play along with them, okay?”
“I see.” The most delicious feeling erupted. For a moment—just a moment—I could see their scheme working out. Just as quickly, reality hit. “You know that Stephen and I don’t really get along, right?”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, and did you see what he did to the furniture?” I pointed to the office. “He mixed it all up. It’s supposed to go a different way.”
She glanced around the room. “Looks okay to me.” She chuckled. “I still think it’s funny that you go to such lengths to get inspired.”
“You wouldn’t believe how tough it is to be funny on demand. Comedy writing is serious stuff.”
“So I’ve heard. Stephen and Brooke came over for dinner the other night, and he and Scott talked for hours about the writing craft. Scott’s always wanted to write as well as act. Did you know that?”
I shook my head. “No way. I had no idea.”
“Yeah. He’s hoping Rex will let him help with an episode or two in the future. So Stephen’s taken him under his wings and is teaching him the ropes.”
“But Stephen’s brand-new at this,” I argued. If Scott wanted to learn to write comedy, why didn’t he come to me? Or to Paul?
Ugh. Don’t get worked up, Athena. Maybe Scott’s just being nice to Stephen because he’s new.
“I’m pretty sure it’s just a guy thing. Scott really seems to connect with Stephen. And you have to admit he’s a likable guy.” Kat went off on a tangent about the budding friendship between the two men, then shifted gears. “So, tell me the plans for this weekend again. I told Scott that you wanted us to come for a few hours. Are we still on?”
“Yes.” I relayed the message about spending the weekend studying my parents’ marriage, and Kat smiled.
“I think that’s a great idea. Your mom and dad have the best marriage of . . .” She paused. “Well, of anyone I know. To be honest, I don’t know anyone who’s still married after—what’s it been? Thirty years? Well, other than Scott’s parents, but they’re in Arkansas. They’re a little too far away to interview.”
“My parents have been married thirty-seven years,” I said. “And it’s funny. Until the guys brought it up, I never thought about the fact that they’re the only people I actually know personally who’ve stayed married this long. Strange.”
“It is strange.” She sighed. “I’m a child of divorce. But Scott knows what it’s like to grow up in a family where the parents stayed together, so maybe he can help too. In fact . . .” She snapped her fingers. “This might be just the ticket. Talk about the perfect episode to get his feet wet. Would you mind if he helped you guys come up with some of the ideas?”
I shrugged. “No. Might be fun.”
“Gotta love that man of mine,” she said. “He was worth the wait.” She reached over and put her hand on my arm. “Trust me when I say this, Athena. Sometimes the real-life romance can be even better than what you writers come up with.” She paused, her nose wrinkling. “Not that your version isn’t great, mind you. But I’ll still take reality over fiction any day.”
I would too, if I could ever experience a real romance firsthand. One that didn’t end in heartbreak, anyway.
“Oh, and just so you know . . . the kids are aware that you and Stephen are going to be spending the weekend together. They’ve given me specific instructions to make sure you fall in love over the next forty-eight hours.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, I hope you’re a magician then.”
She laughed. “Hardly. But we might need to come up with a story to feed the kids once this weekend is over. They’re going to ask what happened, you know.”
“Tell them we fell in love and lived happily ever after.”
“I’ll do that.” She winked. “Who knows. Maybe you will.”
“Yeah, right.” I rose and walked to the door, giving the furniture one last look. The room still looked topsy-turvy to me. And until we got it straightened out, I wasn’t sure I’d ever write a decent page of comedy again.
I thought about Kat’s words all evening, in between thoughts of Snidely Whiplash and the furniture chaos in the office. I found myself daydreaming about our upcoming episode as I made the drive home, imagining myself as sweet Nel
l tied to the railroad tracks. Would my hero sweep in and rescue me? My luck, he’d take one look at the cellulite on my thighs and change his mind. Rescue someone else.
Just as quickly I pushed aside those thoughts. You’re doing okay on your own, aren’t you? Not every female needs rescuing. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I wondered what sort of message we might be sending twenty-first-century women with this episode. Hmm. Maybe we needed to rethink this whole thing, or at least add a clear takeaway at the end so that an “I am woman, hear me roar” message rang out.
Nah. That wasn’t the right message either. Maybe we’d better just forget the whole thing. Start from scratch.
That night was spent wrestling with the sheets. I tossed and turned in between flashes of full-Technicolor dreams. On Saturday I awoke feeling more conflicted than ever about the episode we’d just written. Since when did I second-guess everything? Still, I tried not to fret over it. After all, we had all weekend to shift gears, should we decide to do so. Not that I wanted to shift gears. No, I just needed to lay down my anxieties and go with my gut. It had rarely failed me in the past.
As I showered and dressed for the day, I thought about the conversation I’d had with Kat. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to ask Scott to help us with the script. Surely he would run interference with Stephen. Yes, the more I thought about this, the better the idea sounded. By the time I headed downstairs to breakfast, I’d decided to sweep Scott into the writing fold. Might be fun. Maybe he could fill in the void Bob had left.
Mama sat alone at the breakfast table, still dressed in her nightgown. She looked up from the newspaper as I entered the room.
“Good morning, Athena-bean.”
“Morning. Anything exciting happening in the world?” I asked as I gestured to the paper. My words were followed by a yawn.
“Trouble in the Middle East. Seems like there’s always so much happening near our homeland.” She sighed and glanced at the paper. “There’s another hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, and there’s talk of a volcano erupting on some Pacific island. Other than that, nothing big is stirring.”
“Wow.” I paused to think about what she’d just said. “Sometimes I forget there’s a life outside of the script I’m writing. My whole world revolves around Jack, Angie, and a bunch of children.”
“I’d imagine it’s tough to separate fiction from reality in your line of work.”
“Right.” I reached inside the refrigerator and came out with the orange juice. “Sometimes I need a wake-up call that there’s a life outside of the studio. I forget that my characters aren’t the only ones with problems to be solved. Real people and real problems exist too.” I sighed. “Wish I could write those resolutions as easily as I do in the script.”
“No kidding.” She closed the newspaper and laid it on the table. “But that’s why we lean on God, I guess.”
In theory. The next sigh that erupted took me by surprise. As much as I claimed to lean on God, more often than not I found myself leaning on my own ideas. My own creativity. My own want-to. Tough to admit but oh so true.
I shook off my fretting and focused on the weekend ahead. I would go with my mother to Super-Gyros, where Paul, Stephen, and Brooke would meet us and spend the day. The plan? To watch my parents. To see how they interacted in good times and bad. No doubt Stephen would tell me just where they fell on the plotline of life. I was pretty sure they’d reached the happily-ever-after stage. The resolution.
Maybe one day I’d get there too.
We arrived at the shop at 9:30, and I helped Mama and Aunt Melina prepare the phyllo dough for the day. Larisa arrived with her kids as well as two of my teenaged cousins, Mary and Trina, who had come to babysit. Hopefully they would sweep Brooke under their wings and make her part of the family.
As we settled into our work routine, Mama looked my way. “I hope you don’t mind, Athena-bean, but I’ve asked Milo to stop by today as well.”
“Oh? You did?” Interesting.
“Yes. I thought it would do him some good to share a good Greek conversation with someone. He seems so lonely, and he’s really such a nice old man. Aunt Melina loves to talk. I think she’ll remind him of home.”
If his home happens to be a distillery.
Stop it, Athena. Pray for your aunt. Don’t judge her.
I shook off my ponderings and agreed to do just that—pray. Not just about Aunt Melina but about the weekend ahead. Along with the day’s activities, the guys also planned to come back to the house with us tonight and spend the night in our guest room. That should be interesting. According to Stephen, they needed to see my parents in both environments—work and home. I wondered if they would be interested in going to church with us in the morning as well. Time would tell. Sure would be satisfying to see Paul in church.
At 9:58 Paul arrived with his usual declaration: “I’m starved! What’s for breakfast?”
Mama ushered him to a nearby table and served up a beautiful croissant and hot coffee, along with a tray of fruit.
A couple minutes later, Stephen entered the shop with Brooke at his side. For whatever reason, my heart fluttered as soon as I saw him in those jeans and that fitted T-shirt. Be still my heart. For a second there, I almost forgot we’d come here to work.
I quickly introduced Brooke to Mary and Trina. The preteen seemed shy around her peers at first, but before long I could hear the gaggle of girls laughing and talking from the back room. I also heard the squeals from Larisa’s toddlers, who seemed to be enjoying the company of the older ones.
“Sounds like they’re having fun back there,” my sister said as she entered the room with a tray of sliced meats and cheeses. “Just what my babies needed today.” As she set the tray down, she gave an exaggerated sigh. “It’s hard having a houseful of kids when you work. And with my hubby in the Middle East . . .” She shook her head and dabbed her eyes. “Anyway, it’s not the life I signed up for, but I’m doing the best I can with it.”
“Balancing work and family is always tough,” Stephen said. “That’s one reason we’re here today, to see how that plays out in the real world.”
“You’ve come to the right place.” Babbas looked up from his work at the stove. “Welcome to the Pappas family.”
“Thanks for letting Brooke come with me,” Stephen said. “I don’t think it would have worked out for me to come this weekend if she hadn’t. I get tired of leaving her alone, and I know she gets really lonely.”
“It’s the perfect solution,” I said. “We’re happy to have her. And I think the girls will sweep her into the fold.”
“Thanks. I thought about bringing Zeus too, but decided he could use a day at the doggy day care.”
“Doggy day care?”
“Yes. He’s being groomed. I even paid extra for the doggy massage and whirlpool.”
“Whirlpool?”
“Yeah.” He groaned. “I know. It was Brooke’s idea. She felt like he needed the royal spa treatment. I opted to do it so we wouldn’t have to be back till six to pick him up. Didn’t want to miss a minute with you.” The smile that Stephen flashed my way almost took my breath away. As I gazed into those gorgeous brown eyes and saw the twinkle there, I found myself captivated. Suddenly I didn’t want to miss a minute with him either.
See how gullible you are? One minute you’re questioning his ideas, the next you’re attracted to him. What’s wrong with you?
I couldn’t help but notice the twinkle in my mother’s eye. Likely she’d read too much into Stephen’s words. To my great relief, she did not comment.
“How are things going with Zeus, by the way?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. “Ready to send him back yet?”
“Nah. He’s definitely a member of the family now. I spent a fortune at the pet store the other day. I could have furnished a room with the money I spent.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Dog bed. Food. Treats. Toys. Went all out. And you don’t even want to know how much it cost
to have his nails done and get him groomed.”
“You’re taking this very seriously.”
“No, Brooke’s taking this very seriously. I’m taking her seriously.” He paused and appeared to be deep in thought. “I love her. And if caring for the dog gives her something to do—someone to care for—then so be it. I’ll work overtime to pay for it.”
Wow. His desire to show love to his daughter through the dog was admirable. I had to give it to him.
Mama’s words interrupted my thoughts. “Tell me again why you’re here,” she said. “Not that I mind, of course. You’re all wonderful people—so creative and fun. I’m just trying to understand what Athena was saying about the purpose of this visit.”
“We’re going to study you,” Stephen said with a sly smile.
“Yeah. See what makes you tick,” Paul added.
“Study us?” My mother gave me a funny look. “That’s a little unnerving. What do you mean?”
“None of us have a clue what makes a marriage work,” Stephen said. “We’re all children of divorce or have been through divorces ourselves.”
Paul held up three fingers, and my mama’s eyes widened. She pulled him into her arms. “You poor, dear boy. May you come to know the greatest love of all.”
He grinned—likely thinking she was talking about the love of a good woman. I knew otherwise. Paul could search for the rest of his life, but until he recognized the void in his heart that only God could fill, there would never be lasting love. Not the happily-ever-after kind, anyway.
“We want to see what makes a good marriage work,” Stephen said. “If we can figure this out, then we’ll know how to develop Jack’s and Angie’s characters so they can withstand even the most difficult challenges in their marriage. We still have to take them through Step 7 in the plotline.”
“Step 7?” Mama looked confused.
“The ‘Belly of the Whale’ scene,” he explained. “They have to hit a low point in their relationship where they feel trapped. We know, of course, that they won’t stay there, but it’s got to come. It’s inevitable.”